Catch 22
by Kiseki-no-neko
Summary: It was things like this that made one's brain leak out of one's ears. -JohnxCameron- -CameronxFuture John- -JohnxCameronxFuture John- -Oneshot- -AU-


Catch 22

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Disclaimer: NO, I still don't own it, stop asking that question!

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By: Bunny-chan

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Author's Notes

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Oh so very potentially spoiler-y, but I don't give a daaamn. This is me squeeing over who Brian Austin Green could possibly be playing, yee. Also…I am probably never writing anything like this again…it made my braaaainz huuurt! Hope you enjoy it…my brain didn't.

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The minute the man stepped through the door, everything changed. He looked slightly sheepish, Sarah behind him, looking confused, amused, angry and concerned. They were sitting at the table, doing homework, and had looked up the second the door opened, and he hadn't missed the way her entire demeanor changed. Catching sight of her, a grin spread across the man's face, causing his eyes to lighten considerably, "Hey, Cam, long time no see."

The familiarity caused him to scowl, nobody called her that except him, but what truly made his blood boil was the way she jumped up from her chair and tossed her arms around his neck. He slid his arms around her waist, holding her tightly and pulling her close, the look on his face could only be described as a homesick person finally coming home. She pulled back enough to look up at him, "I can't believe you're here."

"Well, I am, and I missed you." He brushed his lips against her forehead.

"I missed you too, but…what are you doing here?"

"I've been asking him the same thing, he won't say." Sarah piped up, glaring at the man.

He winced slightly, ducking his head, "Does it matter why I'm here?"

The brunette in his arms narrowed brown eyes at him, "You're an idiot."

"I've been here all of five minutes, and already you insult me? He teased.

"I only say it because it's true," she looked like she was going to punch him in the face, "you're not needed here."

The boy still sitting at the table was more than slightly confused, and decided to make it known, "Okay, time out, can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?"

The man sighed slightly, and after exchanging a glance with the cyborg, moved away from her and to the boy, sitting across from him. They stared at each other for what seemed like hours, blue meeting blue, before the man shook his head, "It's really strange seeing my younger self like this."

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It was things like this that made one's brain leak out of one's ears. Especially when Sarah made the mistake of calling for her son and having two voices answer at the exact same time. To avoid further confusion, she dubbed the older man future John, while the teenage version snarked about how unoriginal it was, with his older self commenting that it didn't matter, as long as it got the job done, resulting in a smug look from Sarah, and a roll of his eyes from teenage John. The days went on, almost normally, with John and Cameron continuing to go to school, and Sarah and future John doing God knows what, since neither of them were allowed to go along. It was clear Cameron didn't mind too much, her primary mission was still to protect John, but he could tell she wanted to be with his future self as well. But it annoyed the hell out of him, what was so damn special and important that he couldn't go? And why did Cameron act like she wanted to be with future John more than she wanted to be with him? Was he being _replaced_? No, that was idiotic, his mother would never replace him, not even with the savior he was supposed to be, but Cameron on the other hand…

Well, it wasn't like he could blame her exactly, she had known his older self far longer than she knew him, who knows what went on between them. And that was another thing that annoyed him; he didn't know what their relationship was. And for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why that would bug him. He was flopped out on the lumpy living room couch, the comfort of the furniture always surprising him considering all the weapons hidden in it. His right arm was covering his eyes, and he couldn't decide if he was glad about having finished his homework quickly or not. On one hand, it meant no homework for the weekend, but on the other hand, it meant he had to deal with his annoying thoughts. He was so caught up in said thoughts, he didn't even hear Cameron's soft footfalls, didn't notice her until he felt eyes on him, and shot up into a sitting position.

He calmed down when he saw who it was, screwing his face up in annoyance, "You could warn somebody when you do that, you know."

She blinked at him, "Do what?"

"Sneak up on people."

She shook her head, "I wasn't sneaking, you weren't paying attention, which makes it harder for me to-"

"Protect me, yeah, yeah, I get it." He rolled his eyes.

She continued to stare at him, before he sighed, patting the spot next to him, and she settled down, her hair brushing his shoulder. He moved over slightly, hoping she didn't notice his need to not be so close to her, if she did notice, she didn't say anything. He wanted to say something, anything, but the words caught in his throat, and he couldn't force them to pass through his lips. She laced her fingers together in her lap, humming a tune under her breath. He stared at her, trying to place the tune, and trying to wrap his mind around the fact that she was _humming_, she turned brown eyes to him, ceasing her humming long enough to smile lightly, "It hasn't been created yet."

For some reason or another, that little morsel of information spurred him to speak, "Cam…are you…replacing me?"

She frowned, "How could I replace you?"

"You know…with me…future me, I mean, the John Connor who's the savior of mankind, leader of the great resistance against the robots." He had lowered his eyes to the worn brown fabric of the couch, unable to meet her eyes.

"You can't be replaced." She stated simply.

"Not even with me?"

She gave him a look that clearly showed she thought he was being a moron, which he probably was being, "Okay, that was weird, sorry."

"Yes, it was, but as I said, you can't be replaced."

Before he could stop himself, he had taken one of her hands in his, lacing their fingers together. She blinked at him a few times, before smiling brightly, and he almost sighed in relief. He hadn't seen that smile directed towards him in what felt like years, it wasn't to say he hadn't seen it at all, but it was always for his older self, never him. And it hurt, not that he'd admit it or anything like that. She laid her head on his shoulder, startling him slightly, "I'm sorry if I…hurt you in any way, that was never my intention."

"You didn't." He lied flawlessly.

Or maybe not flawlessly enough or she just knew him better than he thought she did, "I did, and I didn't mean to."

He sighed, "I know you didn't mean to, Cam," he stared down at their hands, "and I don't even know why it hurt…"

Anything else he could possibly think of saying was cut off by soft lips brushing against his neck. He couldn't speak, much less form a coherent sentence, and he could feel her smile against his skin, "That always quiets you in the future."

And instead of that pissing him off like he thought it would, he smiled instead, turning his face to the side to meet her lips with his. He didn't bother to remind himself that she belonged to someone else.

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To say that he felt guilty was a bit of an understatement. He couldn't even look future John in the eye, or even be in the same room with him alone, which was definitely a problem, since future John had gotten injured in his latest…whatever with Sarah. He claimed it was only a flesh wound (and honest-to-God it was), but Sarah wouldn't listen, forcing him to stay at home while Cameron took his place. Now John was forced to look after him, which…well, sucked, really. He entered the kitchen to see the man staring at his injured right arm dejectedly. He didn't even look up when he spoke, "Is it always this boring when you're forced to stay out of a mission?"

He blinked a couple times, before smirking slightly; pulling two cokes out of the fridge, before sitting down across from him, "Pretty much, yeah."

He watched his younger self pop open the cans, sliding one towards him, and he nodded his head in thanks, "I'm not exactly used to being told to sit out of something, even when I get hurt."

"I wouldn't expect you would be, being the savior of mankind, and all." He winced inwardly when he realized he had come off bitterer than he had wanted to.

He sipped his coke, leaning back in his chair, "Are you _still _jealous?"

He looked startled, "What?"

"Jealous, you're still jealous."

"I am not!"

"Whatever."

Silence reigned in the kitchen for a few minutes, and guilt continued to gnaw at John. What did he have to be guilty about anyway? So he had kissed Cameron, so what? Technically, with the whole time travel paradox, he had known her first anyway. He realized dimly that he had finished his coke, and he began sliding the empty can around the table to keep his hands busy. After a minute or two of this, his future self sighed, "Could you quit that?"

And for some reason, that caused him to blurt out, "I kissed Cameron!"

A raised eyebrow, and an, "…okay?" was all he got.

"Wait, you're not…y'know, upset that she…kissed somebody else?"

He scoffed slightly, "Technically, it's not cheating if we're the same person."

He frowned, "I never thought of it like that."

"You're young, you'll learn."

He tilted his head to the side, "You don't find it all…weird?"

He laughed, "Trust me, having this conversation and being with a cyborg are two of the least fucked up things you'll end up doing."

He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be comforted by that fact, or really scared.

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Three days later, Sarah was greeted by quite the sight after grocery shopping. Curled up on the couch was Cameron, and her sons (or son, depending on she looked at it), future John in the middle, his legs propped up on the coffee table (she would have to talk to him about that), Cameron on his left, angled so that her legs were resting over his, and her feet settled on John's lap, who was resting on his future self's right side, careful of his injured arm. He had rested his head on the man's chest, and his older self had both of his arms wrapped around the two, obviously not paying his arm the same kind of consideration his younger self was.

Cameron opened one brown eye, and caught Sarah's wide-eyed gaze, it was clear she was about to say something, but Sarah shook her head frantically, turning her back on the three to put up the groceries. Maybe she should ask what was going on, but she had lived and fought long enough to know when to step back, and this was one of those times, for the sake of what was left of her sanity anyway.

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End file.
